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Friday, April 28, 2017

Show Notes: The Golden Girls

*"Ladies of the Evening" premiered Saturday, October 4, 1986, on the NBC television network and was the second episode of the series' second season.

*NBC's slogan at the time was indeed "Let's All be There!" NBC was also "The Place to Be" in the early 1990s.

*What was the approximate age of the characters? Hard to find definitive proof, though I read in two places that Dorothy said Rose was 55 in one episode. These are the ages of the actresses when the show debuted:

Bea Arthur 63
Betty White 63
Estelle Getty 61
Rue McClanahan 51

*Check here next week for another BOTNS Investigative Report on the story behind the rise and fall of gay houseboy Coco.

*Herb Edelman, AKA Stan Zbornac, had a long and prolific career in character parts, though he died way too young at 62. He was Murray the cop in the original fiLm version of The Odd Couple and co-starred in the sitcom The Good Guys with a post-Gilligan Bob Denver.

*Burt Reynolds needs no introduction nor summary of his legendary career, but in case you forgot about Cop and a Half, it was a 1993 comedy flop directed by Henry Winkler and teaming His Burtness with a precocious 8-year-old. Oh, and Burt's character hates kids, of course. And they work together to solve a crime--not just a crime, mind you, but a murder.

*Jerry Reed was a country star and actor and also the creator of the theme for Burt's smash hit Smokey and the Bandit.

*The Golden Girls' house apparently had 4 bedrooms. Sophia moved in and shared a bed with her daughter Dorothy when a guest came over (well, not counting the "guests" that Blanche brought home). SOURCE: An episode I watched after we taped this episode.

*We have been unable to verify the existence of any Golden Girls conventions, but we dd discover there is a well-regarded podcast, one we did not know about before taping our episode: http://www.outonthelanai.com/

*Golden Palace attempted to keep the show going without Bea(trice) Arthur (who did appear in several episodes). The other 3 gals opened a hotel, moved to CBS (well, the show did) and flopped, though not as badly as did Cop and a Half.